Dynasties and Demagoges
| Author | Chris Aylott |
| Publisher | Atlas Games |
| Publish date | 2003 |
| OGL Section 15 | dynasties |
The material below is Open Game Content
BREAKING LANCES FOR FUN AND FAME
Most tournament events, such as duels and mass combats, are best run as full-fledged battles. In a chivalric society, nobles are expected to fight their hardest but to avoid serious injury by using blunt or (in the case of crushing weapons like quarterstaffs or maces) unusually light weapons. Any character using blunted or lightened weapons does only subdual damage. Since most combat spells do lethal damage, spellcasters are often restricted in their choice of spells.
Less-civilized societies may use regular weapons, but if so, most characters will yield after losing half of their hit points. Accidents happen, but killing an opponent in a tournament is frowned upon.
Jousting is a specialized contest that has little to do with conventional warfare. The object is to unseat your opponent rather than harm him, so conventional combat rules are not used.
In a joust, two knights armed with lances ride directly toward each other. As they pass each other, each knight tries to strike the other’s shield with his lance. The lances are made to shatter when they make contact, so they are unlikely to do actual damage.
If the knight strikes the opponent’s body or shield, however, the impact may knock the opponent off his horse.
Characters involved in a pass make simultaneous attack rolls. If an attack roll succeeds, then the character who was hit must make a Ride check. (Both characters can be hit at the same time.) Unless the result of the target’s Ride check is greater than the result of the attacker’s attack roll, the target is unhorsed and suffers 1d6 points of damage from the fall.
Any character who does not have the Mounted Combat feat suffers a –2 penalty to his attack rolls and Ride checks in a joust. A critical hit automatically knocks the target off his horse.
If neither or both of the knights are knocked off their horses, the knights make another pass. If only one knight falls, that knight has lost the pass. Many tournaments involve three passes between each pair. Draws are possible, though some knights will insist on continuing until there is a clear winner.
At the GM’s option, the winner of a tournament (or a particularly spectacular joust) may gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Charisma-based skill checks for the next 1d4 days.
